Wicker

by Mike McGranaghan

Olivia Colman never fails to play fascinatingly complex characters, and she’s got a real winner in Wicker. The Fisherwoman is the biggest outcast in a medieval town. People mock her physical appearance, her frumpy wardrobe, and the unpleasant smell she perpetually emits. The well-to-do Tailor’s Wife (Elizabeth Debicki) is especially dismissive, frequently lobbing passive-aggressive insults at the woman she views as way beneath her. One of the biggest things the Fisherwoman gets ridiculed for is not having a man.

Her solution to this involves asking the local Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make a husband out of wicker. He does indeed create a full-sized, totally alive Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgård). The Fisherwoman receives her new spouse’s complete love and devotion. The sex is amazing, too. In fact, she becomes so happy that everyone else in the town, particularly the Tailor’s Wife, grows jealous. That’s when the madness begins.

Wicker is an unusual revenge movie. There’s no killing or grand retribution, just a woman taking a defiant “I’ll show you!” attitude toward the villagers who mock her. What makes it funny is how her plan succeeds beyond her wildest dreams. Colman delightfully mixes a screw-you attitude with a sense of wonder as the Fisherwoman finds all her feminine needs being met. In later scenes, the actress adds a dash of scorn, as the townsfolk attempt to turn the Fisherwoman against her husband. If the premise is inherently silly, Colman makes it work by giving the character sincere, relatable emotions.

Prosthetics used to create Wicker Husband are thoroughly convincing. He looks legit. Excellent sound design gives him that distinct creaking noise whenever he moves. In terms of performance, Skarsgård hits an intriguing note. Wicker Husband is simple, but not a simpleton. He’s committed without being obsessed. Speaking in low tones, he has a respectfully doting personality that’s far funnier than if he’d been played as a freak of nature. Skarsgård and Colman strike up a romance with actual heat, despite only one of them portraying a human.

Adapting Ursula Wills’ story “The Wicker Husband,” directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson (Save Yourselves!) stage the plot as a series of escalating events. The Tailor’s Wife takes more extreme measures to foil the love between the Fisherwoman and her man. Another character hires the Basket Weaver to fulfill a dream in a different manner, adding more layers to the drama within the town. Whenever you think you have the film pinned down, it brings in something new to further stir the pot. That unpredictability is a significant part of the fun.

Although it intermittently stops short of going as wild as it seemingly wants to, Wicker is still a shockingly good romance. The inherent weirdness of its concept drives home the idea that no one can tell you how to love another. The Fisherwoman’s relationship may be uncommon, but it’s also tender and real. If it drives other people nuts, that’s a reflection of their own unhappiness and inability to find a love so pure. This witty, quirky, sweet movie celebrates the power of connection, no matter how unlikely a couple may look on the surface.